Kennedy feeling grateful for prayers, Townsend says

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend says her uncle Edward Kennedy is grateful for all the prayers he has received since being diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Townsend says while it has been a very tough two weeks, it is "very good news how well the operation went."

The Massachusetts senator, who is 76, had surgery Monday to remove as much of the tumor as possible. The surgery at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., was completed without complications.

Townsend, who is a former lieutenant governor of Maryland and the oldest child of Robert F. Kennedy, says she has spoken recently with her uncle. Townsend, in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, kept further details private.